They followed the nations that were around them…

Thou shalt not…

At least 15 people on their way to a religious festival were killed when a private charter bus crashed north of Dallas, police reported on Friday.

Local media reported that most of the passengers were from the Vietnamese Martyrs Church of Houston and were on their way to Carthage, Missouri, for the Marian Days festival, an annual celebration of the Virgin Mary.

 

 2 Kings 17:15
They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

Leviticus 26:30
And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you.

Leviticus 26:1
“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.

I hope that we haven’t too quickly forgotten that God still feels the same today as He did thousands of years ago when these scriptures were penned. Even if the idols are great people of faith, who themselves walked in right standing with God, we should not erect them above Jehovah, and especially dedicate a celebratory festival to them. What happened in Texas is a tragedy, no doubt, please don’t let me take away from that. But God is trying to get the attention of these people. How sad is it that you can go to Vietnam and find true believers in the underground church who are dying for Christ, but come to America, and the Vietnamese immigrants are dying for Mary worship. I hope that some would open their eyes to this tragedy and why God would allow it. He hates idol worship. He’s a jealous God, and rightly so.

Believers, I pray you would examine yourself and see if you haven’t, in your heart, erected some sort of idol above Jehovah, our God. If so, let us crush them immediately, and turn to God in repentance lest He bring some sort of judgement upon us also. Read the text, all throughout the scripture God is dealing with people for turning to false gods and detestable idols. I pray you find yourself of a single heart, who’s passion and treasure is Christ alone.

God have mercy on those who still turn to false idols, yea, even Mary worship, which you hate with a righteous hatred. Have mercy on those who still celebrate in this festival of demons and refuse to give you their whole heart. Reveal to them their hearts and their ways, God, bring them into a right relationship with you as you have done for countless others, even myself who am not above any of these mentioned, but am just as detestable. Thank you for grace that causes us to turn from unrighteousness to righteousness.

Reflections on Servanthood: Husband & Wife

Our Little Family

At this time last year my wife was pregnant with our little girl. How thankful am I that the weather wasn’t like it is this year. It rained almost non-stop it seemed like, and we dealt with the heat very little. We praised God for that. But it wasn’t all easy and smooth. There were some rough patches in those 10 months, (I know they say 9, but it’s closer to 10.) Those rough patches were ordained by God, they gave this prideful, hard-hearted man an opportunity to serve his bride. There were two instances that stand out the most and I will share them with you, though they are very similar to each other.

In the first instance Shanna was still working and was on her way to work, when out of the blue she just vomited all over the car and herself. She called me, told me what happened, and I told her to go home and I would take care of the car when I got home. So I did. There was vomit everywhere. Steering wheel, seat belt, seat, console, dash, everywhere. But with joy I cleaned it as best I could, it was only the smell that remained, and that was pretty gross. But it was God ordained, and I served as best I knew how.

The second instance also involved vomit, this time though, it was in the bathroom sink. It filled almost the whole sink. You can’t just turn on the water and have it go down the drain, so I had to scoop it out of the sink into the toilet. This one was worse than the first, but once again, I served and laughed about it the whole time. I had joy in those times of serving my wife in even the most gross situation.

What’s the point of telling you these stories? Well, as I was thinking back, our daughter turns 1 next month, I was thinking about how awesome it was to be able to serve my wife like that. I’m thankful for it and humbled that I could do it. You see, I was in the same situation before. Where do you think God found me? What kind of filth did I have coming out of me that God just scooped up, disposed of, and did it with joy, for His own glory? Listen to how the Bible describes us in our unregenerate state:

Ezekiel 36:16-17  (ESV)
“16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity.”

Is that not just horrible. To think, God found me in that place, called me, justified me, and is now in the process of glorifying me. He has removed from me my sins, as far as the east is from the west, dropped them into the sea of forgetfulness. Just like the vomit I flushed down the toilet. Jesus came down, emptied Himself of all His rights, and served us. For those of us who have repented and cast ourselves on Christ for salvation, God has done this mighty work in us all. He cleaned us up, made us new, and made us love Him for Him. Thank God for the opportunity to serve my wife!

- R. Garcia

They are afflicted for lack of a shepherd

the cost of following false gods

Zechariah 10:2 
For the household gods utter nonsense,and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation.Therefore the people wander like sheep;they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. - (ESV)

 

 

 

 

 I understand that the picture you are seeing is very graphic. I understand it is probably offensive to some. I hope as you view this picture you come to this result, sin is horrible. I wonder how we can not be affected by such a tragedy as this. The sobering reality is, every dead person in this picture is spending eternity in hell right now. They were chasing after a false god, just one among the millions they have, and as a result, God caused them to stampede each other and kill each other.

Why did their god not save them? Why would their god not answer when they cried out to him over this horrible incident? Maybe he was sleeping and they weren’t screaming loud enough, or maybe he was on vacation and would come back to find his followers dead. Or maybe, their god doesn’t exist, and they don’t know that because they have never heard the gospel. The scripture from Zechariah is a good one in explaining what happens when people don’t have a shepherd. They are afflicted, struck down, killed. Why is there no one who would go and tell these people that their gods are false gods and they need the one true living God, Jehovah?!

Are we scared of persecution? Are we scared of forsaking all to go and die for someone else that they might hear the good news? Are we convinced there is a better way, a safer way, for them to get the gospel? A friend and I were talking about people coming from America and giving their lives overseas for the gospel. He said the reason most of us don’t hear the call to go and suffer and die overseas is because we aren’t living a life to where we are able to hear the call. It’s true, we are foolishly chasing after laptops, iphones, cars, marriages, family, education, etc., and we aren’t following the command to suffer. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

How many more people must God judge in front of our eyes before we awake to the reality that we are just as able to go and share the gospel, to the point of death if need be, to a lost and dying world? God have mercy on us who do not live a life to where we are able to hear the call, respond in obedience, and bring glory to Your name.

 

- R. Garcia